Puller for stoppers



T. C SPELLING.

FULLER FOR STOPPEHS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYIZ, 191s.

Patented June 1, 1920.

IFYENTDR I smw i IOFFICE i 'ri-roMAs c. sPELLiNG, orf nnw YORK, N. Y.

FULLER FOR srorrnss;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS C. SPELLING, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in'the county of New York and Stateof NewYorln'liave'invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Pullers andStoppers, of which the following is,

a specification. l p

This invention relates to pullers for stoppers, and has for a purposethe provision of an effective puller so anchored in the substance of thestopper that it will remove the stopper from the mouth and neck'of abottle without either dismembering it or rendering it unfit for furtheruse, or becoming separated from it.' i p In the accompanying drawing,Figure 1 is a diametrical vertical section of the upper part of a bottleor a jug having itsstopper equipped with my improved puller. Fig. 2 is adiametrical section ofa stopper with my puller'inserted in it and madein such modified form as may be more adapted for large stoppers. Fig. 3is a section about as on'the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a top view ofeither Fig.1 or 2. Fig. 5 is an elevation'of the puller alone in amodified form. Fig.

7 6 is avright hand side view of Fig. 5. Fig.

7 is a side elevation and part of an edge view of the puller furthermodified. Fig. 8 is a top view of'a stopper with .eitherof the modifiedpullers Figs. 5 and 7 applied to it. Referring to the drawing byreference numerals, 1O designates the neck of any form and size of abottle or a jug, which is closed by a cork or other stopper 11. provedpulling device is formed of 'a single piece of metal and comprises a bar12 adapted to bear upon the top of the stopper and is provided at itsmiddle with a catch 13, by which to pull the stopperg'said catch may bethe shape .of a ring large enough for the insertion of a finger, and maybe soft enough to be bent over upon the stopper during boxing andstoring or shipping of the bottles, as indicated in dotted lines to theright in Fig. 3, or the catch may be as small asindicated at 13 inFigs.5 to 8, in which event the catch serves merely as an engaging point fora nail, spike, shoe-hook or other suitable means for extracting thestopper.

The pulling devicefurther consists of one or more sharp prongs 14, whichextend downwardly from the bar 12 and are each The im- 7 Specificationof Letters Patent. J 1, 1920;

Application filed July 12, 1918. SeriaINo. 244,544. 7

provided with a pair of-anchoringwings15,

except in the modification Fig. 7, where onlyone wlng, 15 is employed.The -wings are connected-with the prongs by the short and relativelynarrow necks, 18. "Such separation" of the-wings from the prongs as issecured by' the-interposition of these necks and the relativelynarrowing ofthe "metal portion conduces to flexibility,essential'in thesetting of the wings in the substance of the stopper, when upward pullforceis applied;

Each wing is resilient and has a normal tendency to stand at an incline,as shown in nearlyall the (views and each wing has its end dlrectedupwardly and formed with 7 square or blunt shoulders 16, by which toen-' gage and lift'the stopper. Toiinsure said en' gagement each wing isalso provided with an inclined sharp point or barb 17 said points being"inclined outward beyond the plane of the wing, 16, as shown to theright enough for the purpose in view.

Inthe operation or use of the device, the prong or prongs 14, havingsharp exterior edges, ,are'forced' down into the stopper un in Fig.7.The inclineis very little, and'only til the bar 12 bears upon thelatte'raiThe resilient force of the metal of which the v puller isformed causes the points of -the barbs 'to trench their ways, as theprong descends, and embeds the sharp ends of the barbs in the'substanceof the stopper, whereby they assume a suitable position for penetratingthe stopper interiorly and at an angle outwardly. When' the stopper isto be extracted from the bottle a pull upward at the catch 13, or 13*,will cause the prong or prongs to move slightlyupward in the stop.- perand by such movement makethe wings engage firmly in the stopper,especially as the barbs 17 aid the wings in resuming their normallyinclined position, from which they were forced by being driven with theprong down into the stopper, After such slight retroactive movement ofthe prong, vor

prongs,- the wings are thus firmly engaged with the stopper, and thelatter is extracted by the last and greatest part ofthepulling action.The stopper and its puller or extracting device may be used over andover again. And in Fig. 7 is shown how the wing 15 may be struck out inthe prong and bent over' toward one'side of it.

To fully understand the natureof the'invention it is necessary to keepin mind that the difiieult problem of this class of art has not beentofind means of introducing a wire or stem carrying barbs into thestopper atter the insertion of the latter in place but to find a pullerwhich could be introduced and that when introduced was capable ofdrawing out the stopper without tearlng it into two portions, leavingone in the bottle neck. This invention solves that problem.

Inasmuch as nearly all stoppers have been heretofore and will presumably'continue to be made of cork, this device has been adapted to thecharacteristics of cork. The shoulders are sulficiently 1 diminutive andacute for indentation, and sufliciently dull, or. blunt, to cause theimpacting of the substance in all directions rather than a severance; Ifthe latter resulted, dis-membermment of the stopper would ensue, but anindenting and impacting results 1n the integral upward movementrof thestopper upon the application of adequate final pull. force.

In Figs. 5 to 8 may be stamped most economically in the form of astraight strip of sheet metal and bent toward one of its fiat sides intothev desired shape, while in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is shown how thecompletepuller may be stamped out of sheet metal in a single operation, even thewings 15 may be pressed into theinclined position in thesame oneoperation, or they may be inclined by a second operation. The severalforms shown are mainly for selection in manufacturing the article foruseon large, medium, and small stoppers. V j v .Many changes ofconstruction and arrangement may be made in the device as aboveexplained, without departing from my present invention, and I do notlimit myself to the details and modifications herein shown anddescribed.

Having thus "fully described the preferred, as well as the modified formof the invention, I claim as follows:

1. A puller i'or closures comprising a metal prong sharply pointed atone end havin also shar ened exterior ed es adp h r I 0 D acent to thepomt, wings on laterally exis shown how the puller A puller for closurescomprising a metal prong sharply pointed at one end having alsosharpened exterior edges adjacent to the point, wings on laterallyextended portions of the prong, the wings bluntly shouldered on eachside of a sharp point formed centrally thereon, and slanted at an anglefrom the plane of the wing, each Wing slanted at an angle from the planeof the prong, and a short and relatively narrow neck connecting eachwing with the prong, below space madeby cutting out a narrow strip ofthe metal in forming the prong of comprising a flat metal prong embeddedin the stopper and projected downwardly, the prong having Wings formedon lateral projections thereof, the wings slanted from the vertical lineof the prong, each wing having a sharp upwardly projected centralportion and a relatively blunt shoulder on each side thereof, the prongbeing centrally apertured above a bar formed in its upper terminal forconvenience in use.

6. A puller for closures comprising a metal prongsharply pointed at oneend having also sharpened exterior edges adjacent to said point, wingson laterally extended portions of the prong, the wings bluntlyshouldered on each side of a sharp pointv formed centrally thereon, andslanted at an angle from the plane of the wing, and a plurality of suchdevices joined together by a centrally apertured bar resting on thestopper, all the prongs anchored in the stopper as described.

7. A puller for closures comprising a metal prong sharply pointed at oneend having also sharpened exterior edges adjacent to the point, wings onlaterally extended portions of the prong, the wings bluntly shoulderedon' each side of a sharp point formed centrally thereon, and slanted atan angle from the plane of the wing, each wing slanted. at an angle fromthe plane of the prong, and a plurality of such devices joined togetherby a centrally apertured barj resting on the stopper, all the wingsanchored in the stopper as described.

8. In a combination of a stopper and puller, a single sharply pointedand bluntly shouldered member formed on the prong of the puller.

9. In a combination of a stopper and In testimony whereof I affix mysignature puller, a single sharply'pointed and bluntl i in presence oftwo Witnesses. shouldere member formec on the prong 0 the puller, thesharply pointed portion in- THOMAS SPELLING' 5 elined upwardly at anangle With respect to Vitnesses:

the plane of the member below the shoul- MARY A. ENGEL, ders. E. FRANKS.

